The life and death of a group of utterly insignificant space pirates was naturally not something Duanmu Huai would care about.
But the situation in front of him was a different matter altogether.
"So, she doesn't know much either?"
Looking at the anxious-looking girl in front of him, Duanmu Huai was also speechless. He had brought her back to the rear and handed her over to others for treatment, but after she woke up, there was still no good news.
According to the results of the questioning, this girl's name was Oda Kaori, Oda Nobunaga's younger sister, and in fact she could also be considered a victim. Although Oda Kaori had noticed very early on that her brother was somewhat abnormal, there was simply nothing she could do about it. Later, when the demon completely revived, he directly imprisoned her in the castle. Every day, Oda Kaori could do nothing but tremble inside the castle as she watched the demonic creatures massacre and abuse humans outside.
According to Oda Kaori, her brother still retained some awareness. This was also why that demon spared her life—he was trying to torment her brother through this method, forcing him to obey.
After all, with his sister in his hands, disobedience wasn't an option.
However, where Demon Nobunaga had gone, nobody knew.
"That's how it is. For now, she also doesn't know Demon King Nobunaga's whereabouts. The only clue she can provide is that when Nobunaga was first possessed by the demon, he once stayed at Honnō-ji for a period of time under the pretense of illness and recuperation."
"Then it's Honnō-ji."
Hearing Uesugi Kenshin's reply, Duanmu Huai slapped his thigh, almost reflexively shouting out the phrase "The enemy is at Honnō-ji."
After all, that line was one of the most famous in Samurai Warriors.
"Report!"
At that moment, a messenger hurried over.
"We've discovered a demonic army advancing toward our position, and Demon King Nobunaga has been visually confirmed!"
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai's eyes lit up.
I hadn't even gone looking for you yet, and you came looking for me?
There's actually something this good?
Thus, Duanmu Huai didn't hesitate at all and stood up directly.
"Prepare to engage! This time I guarantee he won't be going back alive!"
At the same time, within the demonic army, Nobunaga—now completely demonized—was glaring forward with a livid expression and bloodshot eyes. No wonder he was so furious. Even Demon Nobunaga himself could never have imagined that he would just step out for a bit, only to come home and find his entire home blown to pieces!
Who did this? Who could be so bold?!
Demon Nobunaga never expected that after having practically conquered half of O.J, someone would still dare to make a move against him—and even kill his most loyal apostle! Why? Clearly, O.J had no such people. Even Uesugi Kenshin, known as the God of War, was not his opponent!
This could only be described as an information gap.
O.J was truly a backwater in this continent—poor, lacking everything, with extremely outdated and sluggish information. If this had happened on the mainland, anyone hearing that someone dared to attack a demon would almost instantly guess it was the Inquisition. But this sealed demon was simply too old. When he became a demon, even the former Demon King Jill—who was later killed by Duanmu Huai—hadn't appeared yet. In fact, Demon Nobunaga had been sealed twice: once by a Hero, and another time because the opponent possessed the divine artifact Sunlight, capable of breaking a demon's invincible barrier.
And now, he didn't believe things would coincidentally line up like that again!
The Tenshi Sect had already been exterminated by him. Even if a Hero appeared, so what? He had hundreds of thousands of demonic troops. A mere Hero wouldn't even require his personal intervention—he could just pile demons on top of him until he died!
But when Demon Nobunaga led his army to the battlefield, the scene before him left him quite astonished.
On the battlefield stood only a single man—tall, with a ferocious and terrifying expression. He held a warhammer in one hand and coldly stared at the crowd, his eyes brimming with unimaginable killing intent.
There was clearly only one person, yet at that moment, the frenzied demonic creatures all stopped in their tracks. They stared at him uneasily, unwilling to advance, as if what stood before them wasn't a human, but some kind of ferocious beast.
"What's wrong? What are you afraid of?!"
Seeing his subordinates hesitate, Demon Nobunaga's expression darkened further.
"Hurry up! There's only one person—kill him!"
Upon hearing Demon Nobunaga's order, the demonic creatures hesitated briefly, then finally raised their weapons and charged toward the prey before them!
"Heh, perfect timing."
Watching hundreds, even thousands of demonic creatures rush toward him, Duanmu Huai sneered.
Let me show you the true power of a Soul Walker fighting a thousand alone!
Without hesitation, Duanmu Huai flung his left hand forward toward the demonic army. In an instant, over a thousand puppets appeared out of thin air, forming an army that charged straight toward the opposing demons!
The puppets' attack power wasn't comparable to that of the demonic creatures, but in the initial clash, the demonic army still suffered significant casualties. And just as the demonic army destroyed the puppet legion and prepared to continue advancing, Duanmu Huai silently summoned his second Soul Card.
A spiral spire burst from the ground once again, emerging behind him. Brilliant red runes surfaced upon it, and in the next instant, the demonic creatures that had originally been killed by the puppets suddenly leapt back up, transforming into corpse-mutants and raising their blades against their former kin!
In the blink of an eye, the entire demonic army descended into chaos!
What was going on?!
Seeing this scene, Demon Nobunaga was completely dumbfounded. Earlier, he had already received news from his subordinates about the failed attack, but they couldn't clearly explain why it failed. Now, he finally understood!
This was why his demonic army had failed!
Damn it!
Watching the creatures that should have been under his command transform into some kind of horrifying monsters and turn on his army, Demon Nobunaga gritted his teeth. But he didn't give up—he continued sending the demonic army forward!
"Looking for death."
Duanmu Huai sneered as he looked at the battlefield. Blasphemous Sphere was truly easy to use, especially in warfare. It was even more overpowered than a zombie virus. After all, even T-virus zombies moved as slowly as old ladies taking a stroll. But the corpse-mutants transformed by Blasphemous Sphere were faster than hundred-meter sprinters and could jump higher than pole vaulters.
Of course, most importantly, this thing was extremely deceptive. When ordinary people saw corpse-mutants, they would instinctively think it was the result of some viral infection or mutation, never imagining that they were actually corpses—mere puppets manipulated by a Divine Seal!
Killing corpse-mutants was far more difficult than killing zombies. Although the demonic army was large, precisely because of that, even more of them were killed by corpse-mutants and converted into new ones!
Soon, the number of corpse-mutants grew larger and larger, while the demonic army gradually began to collapse. Duanmu Huai originally planned to activate the Blood Moon again, but at that moment, he seemed to sense something. Narrowing his eyes, he looked toward the distance. Behind the demonic army, a black shadow suddenly darted out like a startled rabbit and plunged straight into the nearby forest.
Oh ho...…
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai sneered, then raised his warhammer and pointed it forward.
"The enemy is at Honnō-ji!"
As the corpse-mutant army advanced in great waves, Demon Nobunaga also rushed into the forest. He had already realized that these corpse-mutants were far from ordinary—they weren't like demonic creatures that could be easily killed!
Damn it, who exactly is it?!
Could that man not be human, but a demon?
Thinking about it, Demon Nobunaga felt more and more that this must be the case. After all, he had seen that man's appearance—such terror and ferocity didn't resemble a human at all. People would believe it if someone said he was a Demon King—
Wait. Could he really be the current Demon King?
Demon Nobunaga suddenly stopped. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his speculation was very likely the truth!
After all, such horrifying and cruel abilities were beyond ordinary demons. But Demon Kings were different. As a demon from ancient times, even though he had been sealed for hundreds or thousands of years, Demon Nobunaga's knowledge still remained. He knew very well that Demon Kings were incomparably powerful existences. If such a being had come here, could it be that he knew of his revival and wanted to subjugate him?
Hmm... that possibility was very high.
After much deliberation, Demon Nobunaga concluded that this was most likely the truth!
Although he wasn't very pleased, before a Demon King, a mere demon had no ability to resist. And the Demon King he once served had long since died. If he could return to the Demon Realm, then both power and authority would come back to him! When that time came, not to mention this tiny island nation—even the entire world would tremble beneath the feet of their demon race!
At this moment, Demon Nobunaga finally made his decision.
"...…Hm?"
When Duanmu Huai received the information transmitted by the corpse-mutants, he couldn't help but be stunned. According to their sensing, Demon Nobunaga stopped moving after reaching Honnō-ji, obediently remaining there as if waiting for someone, completely unconcerned about the encirclement of corpse-mutants around him. Well, that was normal enough. After all, demons had invincible barriers—even corpse-mutants couldn't break through them.
But... why wasn't he running anymore?
Duanmu Huai had originally thought that Demon Nobunaga would dive into the forest and play guerrilla warfare with him. But instead, he just stopped?
Not running was even better!
Although he didn't know why the other party had stopped fleeing, Duanmu Huai didn't dwell on such a trivial matter. Carrying his warhammer, he rushed to Honnō-ji, kicked the main gate open, and walked inside.
On the open ground of the temple, Demon Nobunaga stood there coldly staring at him.
"You finally came. I knew those useless trash outside wouldn't be able to catch me. Only you could."
"Looks like you already understand your situation?"
Duanmu Huai sneered, gripping his warhammer, while Demon Nobunaga nodded.
"Of course. I understand very well... my lord."
As he spoke, Demon Nobunaga half-kneeled on the ground and bowed toward Duanmu Huai.
"...…Huh?"
Faced with Demon Nobunaga's reaction, Duanmu Huai was stunned. He had expected demons to either resist to the end or desperately flee. He had never seen one immediately surrender.
Had he accidentally unlocked some kind of kingly aura buff?
"I am willing to submit to you, Demon King."
Demon Nobunaga raised his head and looked at Duanmu Huai.
"I have already witnessed your power. That is indeed a strength that humans cannot resist. Under your leadership, we can once again easily rule this world, turning those humans into our slaves and food!"
"You say I'm a Demon King?"
"Of course, Demon King."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Demon Nobunaga chuckled.
"In fact, I should have guessed earlier. Humans simply cannot have an appearance like yours. Even demons wouldn't be so ferocious and terrifying. Only a Demon King could possess—"
"GO DIE, YOU MOTHERFUCKER—AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Before Demon Nobunaga could finish speaking, Duanmu Huai's face turned livid as he gripped his warhammer and smashed it down with all his strength!!!
(End of Chapter)